her and me, originally uploaded by dgsmyth.
Cathy thought it would be great for us to get the hell out of the house and get some air. We drove out to barr lake State Park and went on our little walk. I bought a Gorilla Pod with my REI dividend that can hold up to 11lbs of camera. Well the G9 is no where near that but I lugged it along anyway. Click the link on the photo to see the shots on Flickr and click here to see them on the website.
Realized that I had a 5×7 field camera on a large tripod blocking the view out the window and though ti twas time to shoot with it. Didi not feel like loading holders so I just grabbed this shot of Cathy hanging out in the nice Denver heat of February.
A view spoiled, originally uploaded by dgsmyth.
On a drive from Steamboat Springs to Denver via Rt 14, Cathy and I got to experience North Park. Wiki says “North Park is a high, sparsely populated basin (approximately 8800 ft in elevation) in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States. It encompasses a wide valley in Jackson County rimmed by mountain ranges at the headwaters of the North Platte River and several smaller tributaries, including the Michigan River, Illinois River, and Canadian River. The valley receives its name from being the northern most of the three large mountain valleys (or parks) in Colorado on the western side of the Front Range. The others are Middle Park and South Park respectively.”
Now everyone knows South Park (please) and this was such a pretty drive.
Me & Her at the Wedding, originally uploaded by dgsmyth.
Cathy and I went to the wedding of one of her coworkers. We sat in the back and did what we do best…we talked to other guests. At least until the music got so loud we couldn’t. I am a fan loud music. I am a fan of good acoustics, and I am a fan of good music but in the Venn diagram of Life there was little to no over lap in this universe. I will probably get some shit for not retouching this one and maybe I will but I like this shot.
We are about 168 days into our diet. Shit works and I doubt I will fall of this wagon at all.
Went up the hill to get a dose of fall..and it was there. Fall here is different than in the Midwest and the East. I miss the vivid red but I get a thrill of seeing the length of fall change in one day’s drive. The further that I drive up the hill the more time changes.
When you start out in Denver or Ft Collins just over 5000 feet and travel anywhere from 9000 to 11,000 feet above sea level it gets farther into the future. In Denver outside of my apartment it is early fall and some slight color change and two hours later its late fall and the color is past peak.
Intrepid Climbers, originally uploaded by dgsmyth.
Cathy and I as we rested on our climb up Quandary. This was cathy’s idea and I was all for it. We left the trail head around 7:30 and we were out of the trees a little over an hour. We rested as best we could but only got as far as 12.8K. After my new knee I will run these puppies, like some of my fellow hikers who also are AARP members.
We passed a lot of teenagers that made me feel good about my weakness. That doesn’t necessarily sound right but I am sticking with it.
There are 54 peaks in Colorado that are over 14K feet and are lovingly refered to as “14′ers”. Sounds simple right. There was a gentleman with at least 15 years on me who was having the time of his life. He was from New Hampshire but had lived in Oxford, MS for teh last 30 plus years. He had never been above 10K before and was tickled pink. Or he could be flush or sunburnt. Take your pick.
We were right about teh area indicated on the above picture when we had a passing climber snap teh picture of us. Doesn’t seem as bad as it did while we were there but it was just all up. There is a motto of a local magazine here. “When in doubt, go higher!”. Doubt wasn’t a factor when we decided to pull the plug.
Eamon has been dropped off at school and I think that he will like college. After his seven years at the same school and getting the same two teachers for the last five he needs (and appreciates) the fact that new teachers will give the spark needed to move on.
Here we are sitting on his front steps. He is in a house with 20 other people. 7 guys and 14 girls total, and half a block from the school. Piece of cake.
So I am definitely in the deep end. Not only have I quit my job, and purchased all the books and other supplies, I get the uniform. A couple of weeks more of practice and then its two-a-week clinicals at the Childrens Hospital.
Radiology Techs have all the fun… I read that somewhere.
Perils of Pauline, originally uploaded by dgsmyth. This is a sample post generated from Flickr and modified on my own. Not that shabby.
